Tendulkar, Dravid, Sehwag slip in ICC Test rankings
Veteran Sachin Tendulkar dropped out of the batting top-10 to be 13th, while pace spearhead Zaheer Khan slipped a spot to 10th in the bowling chart as India's misery in the Test series against Australia reflected in the latest ICC rankings issued on Sunday.
- Press Trust of India
- Updated: January 29, 2012 04:09 PM IST
Veteran Sachin Tendulkar dropped out of the batting top-10 to be 13th, while pace spearhead Zaheer Khan slipped a spot to 10th in the bowling chart as India's misery in the Test series against Australia reflected in the latest ICC rankings on Sunday.
Outplayed 0-4 in the series that concluded on Friday, Indian players saw their individual standing take a beating in the ICC charts.
While Tendulkar slipped to 13th, another senior batsman Rahul Dravid went down three spots to 18th. VVS Laxman was down a couple of positions at 23rd while Virender Sehwag was a spot behind him after losing a place.
Sehwag's opening partner Gautam Gambhir also dropped two places to 34th. However, Virat Kohli, the only Indian to score a hundred in the series, gained 17 places to be 50th in the latest list.
Among the bowlers, Zaheer was the only Indian in not just the top-10 but also top-20.
On the other hand, there was good news for the Australian players, who made climbed up the charts.
Pacers Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris and off-spinner Nathan Lyon moved up. Siddle, who won the man of the match award for his six for 96 in the Adelaide Test, gained two places and is now in the fourth position with a career-best rating.
Harris' match figures of four for 112 lifted him four places to the 22nd spot, while Lyon's five for 111 earned him nine places, putting him in the 43rd position.
Mainstays of their sides' batting - Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting - also made big strides in the rankings for Test batsmen.
Clarke, who ended up as the player of the series against India, has moved up seven places and now occupies the third position. Ponting is the next highest-ranked Australia batsman at 14th after he climbed eight places following his scores of 221 and 60 not out in Adelaide.
Meanwhile, England must win the third Test to be guaranteed number-one spot at the April 1 cut-off date while a 3-0 win for Pakistan's would bring it three points closer to India and Australia.
Crafty off-spinner Saeed Ajmal has risen one more place while his spin partner Abdur Rehman has broken into the top 10 for the first time in his career in the rankings for bowlers.
Ajmal followed up his 10-97 in the Dubai Test with seven for 130 in Abu Dhabi, which was enough to put him ahead of England's fast bowler James Anderson in second position.
The 34-year-old has earned 50 ratings points for this achievement giving him a career-best rating, and he now leads Anderson by 25 ratings points but still trails number-one ranked Dale Steyn of South Africa by 84 ratings points.
Rehman, who had figures of two for 67 and six for 25 to win the man of the match award in Abu Dhabi, jumped five places to the ninth spot. This is after 23 years that two Pakistani spinners figure inside the top 10 of the Test player rankings.
Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul Haq has broken into the top 10 for the first time in his career in eighth position by rising six places following his contributions of 84 and 12.